Mikel Arteta says Arsenal are working on having Jurrien Timber available before the top of the season as he continues his recovery from a groin problem.
Timber has been an enormous a part of Arsenal’s success this season, playing 43 games in all competitions, but has been out of motion for 2 months.
His last outing was within the 2-0 win over Everton on the Emirates on March 14, coming off in the primary half of the competition.
The Gunners have two Premier League games to play, against Burnley on Monday night after which at Crystal Palace on May 24.
Then comes the Champions League final in Budapest against Paris Saint-Germain on May 30, which appears to be the goal for a Timber return.
Arteta told a press conference on Thursday morning of Timber: ‘He has progressed a bit bit in the previous couple of days. We are going to attempt to get him back and available as quick as possible. He’s doing all the pieces he possibly can to assist the team in any capability.’
On his possibilities of returning before the top of the season, he said: ‘There’s a likelihood, but how big that likelihood is I cannot inform you.’
Arteta is coping with an issue at right-back as Ben White has already been ruled out for the remainder of the season through injury.
‘We’d like to take a look at alternatives, the 2 players that we’ve got usually are not available in the mean time so we want to look and do something else,’ said Arteta.
‘The great thing is we’ve got experienced that everywhere in the pitch this season because once we had issues they’ve normally been in the identical positions as well and we’ve got still managed to seek out the identical level of performance and consistency.’
He added: ‘There are different options, in relation to the opponent and the things we would like to do. We’ve got to be open to not only one, but to 2 or three options.’
The Gunners boss also says he isn’t sure if Riccardo Calafiori will probably be fit to face Burnley on Monday night.
‘We don’t yet know if he will probably be available, we still have several days ahead, and we hope the injury isn’t serious,’ said the Spaniard.
The club has already made it clear that White will probably be out for a while after picking up a serious knee problem against West Ham on Sunday.
‘Further to Sunday’s match at West Ham United, subsequent assessments and specialist reviews have confirmed that Ben White has sustained a big medial knee ligament injury, which can rule him out for the rest of this season,’ a press release on Arsenal’s official website read.
‘Our medical team at the moment are managing Ben’s recovery and rehabilitation programme, with everyone fully focused on supporting the aim of Ben being ready for the beginning of our pre-season preparations.’
Arteta added on Thursday: ‘It looks like a long-term injury. For the time being the main focus is when can we’ve got him back, that isn’t going to occur in lots of many weeks.’
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